A Boulder district judge ruled Wednesday that jurors in Michael Clark's murder trial will not be allowed to hear details of a previous arrest for stealing a motorcycle, an incident prosecutors argued speaks to Clark's motive in the 1994 fatal shooting.

Clark is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Marty Grisham, who, at the time, was the city of Boulder's director of information services.

Judge Thomas Mulvahill ruled at a motions hearing Wednesday that prosecutors in the murder case can bring up the fact that Clark, 37, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of second-degree auto theft, but they will not be able to reference details of the arrest contained in the police report.

Prosecutors Ryan Brackley and John Kellner argued that the arrest was key in showing Clark had motive to kill Grisham, 48.

A few hours before he was killed Nov. 1, 1994, Grisham reported that checks had been stolen from his apartment, apparently by someone with keys to the unit. Later that night while eating dinner with his girlfriend, Grisham got up to answer a knock on the door and was shot four times in the chest and head. Nobody saw the shooter's face.

Nearly a year later, a friend of Clark told detectives and prosecutors he had no direct knowledge of Clark being involved in a murder, but he had helped Clark get a 9mm handgun before the homicide. Clark told the friend he was worried about getting arrested for stealing checks, the arrest affidavit said.

Clark -- who was friends with Grisham's daughter Kristen -- was trying to enlist in the Marines. After the misdemeanor charge in the motorcycle incident earlier that year, another arrest would have likely ruined his chances of enlisting.

Clark eventually pleaded guilty to theft and forgery for the stolen checks, but he denied any involvement in the homicide. The judge said the forgery and check theft case is directly related to the murder case and will be admissible in court.

But Clark's attorneys Megan Ring and Nelissa Milfeld said the details of the auto theft arrest would serve as unfair character evidence against Clark.

Mulvahill ruled that the charge and guilty plea are relevant to the case but the details of the arrest report are prejudiced against Clark. According to the affidavit, Clark tried to flee from police on the motorcycle, then crashed, fled on foot and was caught.

The judge also ruled that some hearsay testimony is admissible -- from Grisham's then-girlfriend and from the Boulder police specialist who took his theft report the day he was shot, regarding remarks Grisham made about Clark and Kristen Grisham.

Mulvahill ruled that a conversation Marty Grisham had with his apartment manager Kirk Magill about changing the locks to his apartment because of the check theft would not be admissible.

Clark, who appeared at the motions hearing free on $100,000 bond, pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in April. His trial is set for Oct. 9.

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